Board to review Deerfield pig farm

DEERFIELD — A Stillwater Road pig farmer who has tussled with his neighbors for years over nuisance complaints will have a hearing before the Board of Health to renew his annual permit for the 40-year-old family business.

Stanley Romanowski of 97 Stillwater Road owns the farm.

The town sets rules for Romanowski to follow to keep running the farm through a process called site assignment.

There will likely be no changes in the site assignment unless Romanowski requests some, according to the town administrator.

According to the current site assignment issued last May, Romanowski is required to maintain fences on the 30-acre property at all times and to limit the pigs’ access to a brook and small pond on the property. And there may be no more than 80 adult pigs on the property and no more than 500 piglets.

The review comes almost a year after the town handled complaints about runaway pigs from the farm. Over the course of last summer, there were about 10 police complaints of loose pigs in the road.

The Select Board ordered Romanowski to keep the swine penned in. He and his lawyer, R. Dave DeHerdt, contended the pigs were not off his property.

In the past, the pig farmer has had frequent spats with his neighbors from the Meadows of Deerfield condominiums. The condo association argued previously that Romanowski’s swine escape his farm, root for food and uproot bushes at the 46-condominium development.

During the 25-year dispute, the condo residents and farmer have fought over many issues from the way pigs are fed to the cleanliness of Romanowski’s property to the traffic hazard loose pigs may pose.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Wednesday in Town Hall after the regular Select Board meeting. The selectmen will become the Board of Health for the site assignment.